About the HCD team

Human-Centered Design is the design group in operations technology that is focused on solving customer problems in the Prime Now, Last Mile, and AFT programs. On these teams, designers, design technologists, writers, and researchers work collaboratively in our design and prototyping studio to research customer behavior and needs, and define customer experiences that meet them.

In HCD we work on both big-vision and fast-execution projects—getting stuff done in the short term while figuring out the next big thing. Many of our projects move beyond the digital space to bridge physical processes as well. We are often as concerned with operational processes and physical interaction as we are digital interfaces. This is one of the key differentiators for HCD within Amazon.

We are also the only design group at Amazon that owns an entire shopping experience, from discovery to delivery. This grants us a unique testbed for experimentation.

Leading with vision

We adhere to a loose process for design:

We invent via collaborative brainstorming sessions

We prototype and simulate experiences with real customers, to whom we have access (because our customers are often also employees!)

We socialize vision upward and outward

We document the experience and support our tech teams

We launch and celebrate

Work-Life Balance

We aren’t robots—we can’t be effective, innovative designers if we work extreme hours. (Plus, many of us have families!) So while we may invest extra to time to put on the finishing touches to launch critical projects, we strive to accurately scope projects, reduce project thrash, and average a normal work week.